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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Sometimes I feel like my life is better told in pictures (like these last two weeks). On Monday, Jason and I played frisbee golf at Yorba Regional Park with Tyler, Tiffany, Jarom, Aubrey and Mikayla, and Brett. It was so fun! I love Yorba Regional Park; it is the home of many, many good memories from my high school years.

Jason, Brett, Tyler, and I got there a couple minutes before Jarom and Tiffany arrived, and we so we naturally warmed up with a frisbee battle.

When they got there, we started our game! We would all decide on a target, like getting between the fork of a specific tree, or landing on top of something, or getting your frisbee stuck in a certain bush, and then we would go for it! We had a specific order we would first throw (Brett, Jarom, Tyler, me, Jason, Tiffany) and then whoever was farthest away would go (like regular golf). It was seriously so fun. We did nine "holes" (meaning nine trees, water boxes, picnic tables, bushes, and a playground slide).

At the end, when we were heading for our last goal (the playground), we randomly ran into our friends Katie and Jake! Yay! They're awesome. And it was so fun to see them in the middle of a huge park.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Often, in our world of Christmas trees and gift giving, we forget that the holiday began with and is really about Christ, our Savior.

Today I want to tell you what I know. I know that there is a God. He is a loving God, whose entire purpose is to secure our eternal happiness. Seriously, he loves us so much. He loves you, individually. He knows who you are. He cares about you. He wants you to be happy. I've felt it in my life. I know he loves me. I know he cares about even the little things that are in my life. I know that He wants me, and you, to be happy.

I know that Jesus Christ lives. He is our Savior. He lived a perfect life and then sacrificed himself so that he could pay the price for our sins. Because he paid for them, we can be clean if we repent and believe in him. We can be clean.

I know these things. Because I do, I have peace and happiness in my life.

I invite you to read this, The Living Christ, which is a short explanation and testament by prophets and apostles living today of the divinity of Christ and why he's important in our lives. If you just have one minute, read it.

Yay!!! That's right; he's finally home! We all (the family) went to the airport to meet him. We couldn't wait! Seriously, it was sooo exciting!

We waited by the escalator, and had to kind of bend a little to see all the way up to the top. We were looking really hard (especially his mom).

And then he came! And there was joy and rejoicing in the land!

Tyler, Jason, Michael, and their Dad all compared tans. Tyler was way darker than his brothers, but I think James beat them all.

Here's the whole family, together for the first time in years! Michael and Shelley, Jarom and Tiffany and their girls, Tyler, James and Diana, and me and Jason!

We are all really, really happy. :)

And you're all invited to come hear him speak this Sunday in church! Tyler's awesomely friendly and energetic, and this should pretty much be the best talk ever, so you'll really want to come. The church address is 5550 Ohio St, Yorba Linda, 92886, and he'll be speaking around 9:30 (the service starts at 9). Come!! We'll be there, and it will be fun! Yeah! :D

On Monday Jason and I had the great pleasure of attending one of my favorite annual events: the Smith Family Christmas Party. This party has a lot of tradition to it: We all meet at either my Grandma's house or my dad's house (usually my dad's house for the last couple years), have dinner, watch the little kids perform the nativity (or, if you are a little kid, dress up like a shepherd, wiseman, or angel and perform), watch the little kids have a candy swap, and have the awesomest white elephant gift exchange in the world. Every year.

Growing up, all my cousins and siblings seemed to want different parts in the nativity every year: sometimes they'd want to be wisemen, sometimes angels, once in a while Joseph or Mary. But there was only one part I ever wanted to be, only one costume I immediately found and dressed up as year after year after year: a shepherd.

Why?

The sheep.

I loved those sheep. There were two. This is one of them.

Every year I'd happily carry my sheep out to the nativity scene and sit with it the whole time, making sure it was taken care of.

I love all my cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents. Merry Christmas to you all. :)

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Man, I have so much to update you on! Since I last wrote, Jason and I finished finals, had Christmas with my mom and family in Utah, drove to California, had six days of rain, had the annual Christmas party with our extended family on my dad's side, hung out with friends, and tonight, tonight, Tyler got home! And Tiffany and Jarom and Aubrey and Mikayla! Yaaay!

I'll tackle all those individually, but this first post is about snow! Once we finished finals last week, we headed up to my mom's house in Highland. Because it had snowed the day before, Jason, Sydney, and I went out to the neighborhood sledding hill. I love that hill.

Welcome to the record of our family's adventures! My name is Jocelyn. My husband Jason and I have been best friends ever since we started high school. We got married on April 23, 2010, in the Newport Beach Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We live in North Carolina with our beautiful little girls, Ellie, Zelda, and Susanna.